Chapter 2

Everyone's gaze flickered back and forth between me and Viviana, their faces full of shock, suspicion, and curiosity.

Viviana's face was so pale, there wasn't a hint of color left.

She bit her lower lip so hard it almost drew blood, her body swaying unsteadily. She looked like she might faint any second.

Everett, the Crown Prince, grabbed Viviana to steady her, then jabbed a finger at me, his face twisted with fury. "Utter nonsense! Natalia, you're just jealous of Viviana! How dare you spin such an outrageous tale to smear her name?

"I saw it myself. Viviana nearly died saving my uncle; she was battered and bleeding all over! And where were you then? You're just some country bumpkin. What could you possibly know about medicine?"

"That's right!" Maverick Matthews, my father, stepped forward and shot me a glare.

He said, "Your Majesty, my daughter Natalia has been living in the countryside since she was a child. She's wild and narrow-minded!

"She's just jealous that Viviana has caught the Crown Prince's eye, so she's spouting nonsense on this joyous occasion, trying to ruin the marriage alliance between the royal family and the Matthews family! I've failed as a father, Your Majesty, please punish her!"

As he spoke, the warning in his eyes was so sharp, it felt like a knife at my throat.

It was like if I said one more word, he'd come over and shut me up for good.

My mother sobbed as she knelt. "Your Majesty, Your Highness, please, for Viviana's merit in saving you, spare Natalia. She's just a clueless kid! She didn't know what she was saying!"

The whole family put on a heartfelt show, acting like their concern was genuine.

They all teamed up against me, making me out to be some crazy, jealous witch.

With everyone shielding her, Viviana's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, looking so pitiful and fragile, like a wilted lotus trembling in the wind.

"Natalia, I know you resent me. You hate that I took your place as the Matthews family's heiress for sixteen years, and now I'm about to marry His Highness... But how could you... How could you make a joke out of something as huge as saving His Majesty?"

Viviana sobbed, every word a dagger to my heart, stabbing right into the infamous villainess.

"If you wanted to be the Crown Princess, you could have just told me! You could have it! Anything for you, as long as you're happy! But why do you have to smear our parents? We're family, Natalia!" Viviana said.

Her words were so full of emotion and so self-sacrificing that it was almost heartbreaking.

The looks from the officials and their wives had shifted from shock to pure contempt and disdain.

"So it's just a jealous fight over a man? What a joke."

"She really is just a country bumpkin. Doesn't know how to act in polite society. She's throwing away all her dignity for a man."

"Poor Lady Viviana. It's their big day, and they have to deal with this troublemaker."

The gossip was quiet, but every snide remark found its way to my ears.

I took in their twisted faces, the pity and growing disgust in Everett's eyes, and the quick, victorious smirk that flashed across Viviana's lips.

I smiled.

Ever since the day I was brought back to the Matthews family, I'd lived through this scene more times than I could count, isolated, slandered, and treated like a stranger.

I'd grown used to it.

So I just calmly looked up at Kristopher, sitting on the throne.

"Your Majesty, the truth will come out if you look into it," I said.

There wasn't a trace of panic in my voice, just an icy calm.

I added, "The poison His Majesty suffered from that day was called Nightshade Elixir. Its effects are swift and deadly. No ordinary remedy could cure it. I used a secret family treatment: acupuncture, along with a poultice made from three rare herbs.

"Those herbs were Heartroot, Sevenstar Leaf, and Serpent Fungus, which only grow on the damp, shadowy cliffs of Ardving City."

With each herb I named, Viviana's complexion turned a shade paler.

I continued, "The arrow that struck Your Majesty was three inches below your left shoulder blade, and the tip was barbed.

"I couldn't pull it out, so I had to cut away the damaged tissue, clean the wound with strong liquor, and tightly bandage it with a clean piece of linen I had with me.

"If you ask the royal physician to examine the scar, you'll see the healing matches exactly what I described.

"And when I was treating your wound, in my haste, I tore off a piece of my own sleeve to use as a bandage. That sleeve was embroidered with the Eclipsed Blossom Embroidery technique—double-sided, with flowers on one side and fish on the other.

"My birth mother made it for me herself when we were reunited. That piece should still be kept in the evidence office of the Lineage Hall."

My words were firm and precise, every detail delivered with absolute confidence.

These are the kind of details Viviana, the imposter, would never know, not in a million years.